Use Social Media, Don’t Let It Use You

Posted by Guest Blogger on Jan 16, 2013

The AICPA’s Forensic and Valuation Service Conference, held
Nov. 11 through 13, involved several sessions that were taught the “un-conference
way.” These sessions were unconventional in their approach and involved
peer-to-peer interactive learning. One un-conference session I attended was Tom
Hood’s “Getting
an ROI from Social Media via ROA (Return on Attention).” Tom is the CEO of
the Maryland Association of CPAs and is considered a top thought
leader in accounting.

From the moment we entered the room, we were thrown headfirst
into the world of social media, as Tom encouraged us to sign into the gosoapbox event. Tom kicked off the session
with a survey of attendees’ social media habits. In our group, 11% did not use social
media at all and 71% viewed social media as a time sink, a valid concern for
professionals who already have very demanding schedules.

Most of us wanted to know how diving into the world of social
media would be worth our time. A Deloitte/MIT
study on social business found that connecting and collaborating with
customers and team members are essential to the long-term survival of a
business. Tom, quoting Francine McKenna, stressed how important it is to “use
the tools, don’t let the tools use you.” This is vital in keeping social media
from becoming a black hole that results in inefficiency and inefficacy.

As the session progressed, without a phone or computer at
hand, Tom was somehow sending out a steady stream of tweets. How did he do
this? Did he have an assistant hiding in the wings? Turns out he was using HootSuite, a social media tool, to schedule
tweets throughout the day. Using the tools, he put aside time in the morning to
write messages that would be posted throughout the day. He was not wasting his
day puttering about Twitter, he was actively participating in social media and
his thoughts and ideas were being shared with his peers.

Risk management in social media is a big concern. There is a
real fear that anything that we say in social media may impact us negatively at
trial. Also, discussions through social media by members of our staff may be risky.
We must develop a safe social media usage policy. One solution is the one used
by the MACPA that is tied to, among other things, the CPA Code of Conduct.
The simple approach, given by Tom, is to not say anything you wouldn’t say to
your mother.

We each received an i2a:Insights
to Go worksheet to use during our session to record what we learned, what
trends we felt would have the biggest impact in our organization and the five
steps we intended to take to get an ROA on social media. The key to success is
to start small and take manageable steps into the world of social media. A blog
(that you post to regularly) is a good start.

Armed with this knowledge and a strategy to get started, we
went from being skeptical and apprehensive about social media to being
motivated and equipped to implement these new tools into our business and
perhaps even become thought leaders ourselves.

AICPA Members: Interested
in social media, but not sure how to get started? From blogging to Twitter to
YouTube, the AICPA’s social media toolkit will
help you formulate and execute a strategy. Plus, join the FVS
Section LinkedIn group for an
opportunity to network with your peers.

Rumbi Bwerinofa, CPA, CFF, Controller - Managed Accounts, TGM
Associates, LP. Rumbi was
selected to be a member of the Emerging Program for Rising Forensic and
Business Valuation Professionals, which was specifically designed for CPAs with
less than five years of forensic accounting or business valuation experience.